Vrhicle-top



J. E. KARL.

VEHICLE TOP. L

AFFLICATLON FILED IULY 24, 1916.

1,356,921 Patented Oct 26, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

viii-I'IcIfE-Jror.Y` l

To @ZZ whom tf/nay concern:

i Be it knownthatl, JULiUs E. Kang citizen of thel United Statesy.residine'l atf Peoria, iii tli'elcounty of Feoria and tate of Illlinois, have invented certainnew anduseful Improvements in .Vehicle-Tops.; andl do hereby declare that the following isl aV full, clear, and exact, description of theinvention, which will enable, others skilled'in the art towhich it appertaiiis to .makefalid use the same. f n y This invention rela-testo improvements in vehicle tops. It relates more particularly to a new and novel form of folding topfor a lvehicle designedfto, support itself in its extended or raised position for use, being` rez'idily' manipulated `by one person. p

The primary object of the invention is to furnish a top for vehicles devoid of bows or other supporting parts that 4wouldinterfere with the clear view of persons. seated in the vehicle. f n i Another cb] ect is to furnish a vehicle top with :i folding frame-structure constituting a truss which when said top is raised or set up for use it will Abe supported inan absolutely firm and rigid manner.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the. following speciiication aided bythe accompanying drawings in which- A Figure l is an elevation of a vehicle body showing my improved top-supporting struc ture applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an elevation )of a portion of a vehicle body showingtlie manner of fold ing the parts involving my'invention, the covering fabric not being shown.

Fig. 3 is-a similar view showing the structure folded down in the position4 it is to occupy when not in use. v Y

Fig. 4 is a detail of certain parts of the structure as viewed from the front.

Fig. 5 is an elevation ofY a portion of the structure of a slightly modililed forni.`

6 is a horizontal section of one of the parts of the top showing a member slidably related. thereto; and, y y y Fig. 7 is an elevation of thesameshowing one of the parts in section. y

Arepresents a rail secured upon the side fof the body of the vehicle at its rear, substantially in the position shown in Figs. 1, and 2 and having a horizontal portion to support the mechanismeiitering in the invention and now toy be described. B vis a member commonly knownias a Specification ofiLetters Patent. Patented @(315,i 26, 1920, p fnpiiueatita sie@ .iuiy a4, 191s. sereini N9. 110,839. i i

socket,there one at eachside of ther f UNITED# 'GFF-ICB ,with .the latter and pivoted atfits'A other end to a collar G adjustable upon: the member A i and secured by any suitable/means such as;

a set screw J col;l`ar"'adjustable upon theniember A and forminga limiting Vstop for the member E but theojiifce of this will be described later herein.

K is a rod or bar preferably pivoted .at onev end .to ears Kon the; front side' p ortion ofthey structure B Cjust described, see Fig.v Hand pivoted midway the length of said bar Kis a similar bar L having at oney end an angled; notcliM.` I i To the side'of'the member isfsecured a stop jN having ai depending4 outwardly bent arm O, Fig. 4,wliose" purpose will'wappear presently.

I Attached to the rods AP Q- respectively, the latterbein crossed andV pivotally. connected at, the mi g n forward of the rods l( L as seen in Fig. lare `the ends ofv similar die of their lengths. 4' To. the free end of the member Q is pivoted one end ofafbar 1R and connecting they end of the member P with said bar R is a link S substantially as shownythe whole structureth'us described forminor a laz'f-ton s i so constructed and arranged. aste be readily folded after the vmanner slicwn in Figs. 2 and, and which is readily extensible 'to hold the top! in its .raised positionas. shown in saidrFi 1.

.. T T represent two bowsl secure rat the points of yconnection of the bars:` L Qiand Py S5' which are employed. for supporting the top fabric D, and said vbows may bev fixed relativelv to one of thefmembers' described or they may be` pivotally relatedfasmay v the desire in practice.

tice: to secure one of. the bows relatively to one of the members and permit-theiother to have free pivotal movementas bestanswering the purpose of the invention invproperly supporting the yfabric and in permittingffolding the striicturein its positionfor non-use, however, this is mere choice.

a matter of tact,y it hasbeen my pracy nthetaised: attended,Pleeitionoff'theter.

the notched end of the member L engages the stop N, entering between the arm O andi the member B, the weight of the top car.

rying the bottom ofthe notch rearwardly against said stop and thereby a positive lockj for the structure is formed by which the latvlower end on the member A. thereby moving its upper portion rearwardly due to the links F raising the entire top at an angle. Iny practice the top because of its rigid structure throughout can be suspended witliout support at its forward end but in order to prevent its vibration when in use on the road it is preferably secured to the windshield or other portionof the vehicle by means of the usual straps or other means, not shown..

The link F described answers two purposes-that of supporting the member B rigidly in its raised position and supporting the whole top and for the purpose of stretching the back portion C of the top. That is to say, when the top is extended and drawn down by means of straps or other devices referred to, but not shown, the said link F acts as a fulcrum since when the upper portion of the member B isV drawn in a forward direction by pulling down the forward end of the top the lower end of the member B will tend to move rearwardly and thus raise that portion of the top lying above said link F and thereby stretch the said back C tightly.

It is observed that aside from the members B which are so far inthe rear. as not to lie outside the line of vision of a person occupying the rear seat, there are no supporting members for the top lying forward of said member B so that a clear vision is provided, and no parts are in the way ofthe occupants of eitherseat of the car to interfere with their vision or their free movements in or about the vehicle. A t the same time the truss formed by the lazy-tongs prevents any tendency to lateral strains or movements of the top, except as a whole, and all of the portions of the fabric are tightlvstretched as already stated.

Besides the advantage of clear vision there is the ease of manipulation of said top in raising or lowering` it. For instance, when it is desired to fold the top the attendant merely slightly raises the forward part vbend and at the same time pushes it rearwardly in order to disengage the member L from the stop N after which the whole structure will collapse by the parts moving relatively to one another on their pivots and take up .thereclining folded position. That is to say, that endof the member L, Vfor instance,

which has pivotal. connection with the mem` ber Q swings in an arc described from the pivot point of the membersK L and .in theV collapsible position lies adjacent to the point of connection ofthe member K with vthe bow C, which is also true of all of the other Y members, inthat their positions are substantially reversed 'so that all may lieV in a compactform as clearly shown in Fig. 8,

Vwherein the member E has now been moved to substantially theforward limitv of the member A,"the link F having assumed a reclining position.

In Fig. 2 the structure apart from the member B is shown Vraised to an unnatural position merely for purposes of illustration, l but in practice infolding'the top down the members K P B lie substantiallyparallel to the member B the latter necessarily assumes its reclining position as it falls, the

link'F causingV the lower endof said memb'er'B to move forward on the rod A.

The collar J' may be adjusted to a position along the member A where the partsof the structure will assume their .proper positions relatively so vthat after having been `located the parts will al1 assume the proper relation as the top is raised. The arm 0 of the stop N is` preferably bent outward as illustrated in Fig. e so as to positively guide the member L into it as that member 'shown from, which said curtains may be conveniently hung. y

in Figs. 5. 6 and I have illustrated a slightly modified form of certain of the. parts That :is to say, a guide of. suitable..

form is provided by attaching, for example, a suitablepart to the member'B. In the present case this consists of a portion 2 carried around said member B its resulting edges forming two forwardly extending parts 3, it, each including an angled each extending towardthe other and leaving a space between them within which lies the end of the member 5, corresponding to L in the other gures, said end liavin a cross pin 6, for example,y extending through it to engage the said angled bends 4. By this structure the member n5 is associated at alltimes with the guide thus provided and can readily move up anddown, therein as the structure is folded andini-v "folded. i

Il or with the other members, the link F and the member B must act to sustainthe entire `top as though made of a single part. My invention may be Aadapted to any make of car of any length including those having single seats.

The member A may be disposed in any desired position on the body and may be mounted farther toward the rear than that shown so that the member B may be carried farther in that direction but this is all within the meaning of the invention.

The whole object of my invention Ais to provide a vehicle top wholly free of any supports thatwill be in the way of the oc cupants of the car, or that will lie in the line of vision. The structure provided fully answers the requirements and a very firm job results from the construction employed.

I am aware that it is not new, of course, to provide a fabric carrying part4 rigid throughout and rigid with respect to an upright support. f Neither is it new to hold an upwardly and forwardly extending top bow rigid with respect to the body whereby but a comparatively small portion of the length of the body is coveredby a fabric carrying part attached to said bow.

As distinguished from these the support B of my device is held rigidly with respect to the body with its upper end at the extreme rear thereof, the fabric portion extending the full length of said body therefrom. In other words, it includes' a bow or support so disposed at its lower end that it can be supported by a member such as I", thence extending upwardly and rearwardly to the extreme rearward out of the line of vision of the koccupant of the seat and yet able to support the top of the full length of the body, all being capable of collapsing however. f

Utherminor changes may be resorted to without changing the principle of the `invention since it is not my wish to be limited to the exact structure shown and described. n Having thus described my invention, I' claim y 1. In combination with a vehicle body, a substantially upright support slidably mounted at its lower end at the rear end of said body, a collapsible fabric support-` ingl structure secured to its upper yend inl cluding means toy holdit rigid throughout its length when extended and likewise to hold it rigid with respect to the support, a-

member pivoted at one end to the'support,

and an adjustable part carried on the body to which its other end is pivotally attached.

2. In combination with a vehicle body, a substantially upright support slidably mounted at its lower end at the rear end of said body, a collapsible fabric supporting structure secured to its upper end including means to hold it rigid throughout its length vwhen yextended and likewise to hold it rigid with respect to the support,

a member pivoted at one end to the support, its other end having a pivoting point fixed relatively to the body,"` and an adjustable part adapted to limit the sliding movement of the support in one direction.

3,. In combination, a vehicle top structure including a series of collapsible members pivotally connected, a supporting member to which one of the members at kone end of the structure is pivotally attached, one of the other of said members at said end having a free end, a stop on said supporting member adapted to receive and hold said free end whereby to maintain the structure in its extended position, a-stationary member with which the supporting member is slidably related, an adjustable part on said stationary member to receive against it the supporting member, a second part on said stationary member, and a link ypivotally connected between the last named part and said supporting member.

ll. In combination, a vehicle top structure including a series of collapsible members pivotally connected, a supporting member to which one of the members at one end of the structure is pivotally attached,

one of the other of said members at said end having a free end, a stop on said supporting member adapted to receive and hold Y JULrUs E. KARL.

Witnesses IRWIN L. FULLER, L. M. THURLow. 

